BIRDWATCHERS were celebrating last night after a rare pair of ospreys were reunited at their North Wales nest.

The female bird returned to the nest near Beddgelert and joined her male partner.

The two – the first ever pair to settle in Wales – have already started to mate and experts hope there will be chicks by early June.

RSPB Cymru Osprey officer Emyr Evans said the female appeared late on Wednesday afternoon and settled straight on to the nest.

“The male began displaying immediately, flying high into the air and calling. Just 20 minutes later, the pair had already begun mating,” he said.

RSPB officials at first thought the male bird was not the same male from previous years, as the orange identity ring on his right leg was missing. But the male has now been identified by the number on the metal BTO ring around his left leg as her partner.

Mr Evans added: “The orange ring was an easy way to recognise the male but this has now gone. The ring would receive quite an impact each time he plunges in the water to catch a fish, plus he has just completed a long and arduous migration, so the ring could have come off anywhere between Wales and west Africa – we won’t be trying to find it!”

The adults are the only known nesting pair of ospreys in Wales. Two chicks fledged from the Glaslyn osprey nest in 2005, followed by another two in 2006.

Eggs laid during their first summer in North Wales in 2004 did not hatch after the nest was destroyed by storms.

Mr Evans said: “This pair has arrived back even earlier than last year, and are probably among some of the first ospreys to arrive back in the UK. It’s as if they couldn’t wait to get back to sunny Wales.”

The viewing site at Pont Croesor near Porthmadog will be open every day from tomorrow from 10am until 6pm.

RSPB Cymru staff and volunteers will be at the viewing site each day to answer questions and help visitors get the best views of the birds through telescopes and binoculars.

Live images from the osprey nest-cam will also be showing at the visitor centre.